Van Halen, the band behind Eddie Van Halen's guitar, Alex Van Halen's drums, and Michael Anthony's bass
Van Halen formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. The 1978 debut through A Different Kind of Truth (2012), the Roth, Hagar, and Cherone eras, the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and Eddie Van Halen's October 2020 death. Every classic-lineup member's documented gear, with citations.
Reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Van Halen formed in Pasadena, California in 1972; the classic lineup, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and Michael Anthony, launched with 1978's Van Halen. Eddie played EVH Premium strings on his Frankenstrat and Wolfgang guitars; Alex played Ludwig and later DW kits with Paiste cymbals; Michael Anthony endorsed Rotosound bass strings. Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone eras followed before Eddie's October 2020 death ended the band.
Band members(4)
Eddie Van Halen
Documented string gauges, brands, and gear Eddie Van Halen used with Van Halen across 50 years. Fender 150XL early career, EVH Premium signature strings later. Frankenstrat plus Wolfgang signature instruments, Marshall Plexi into Peavey 5150 into EVH 5150III. With citations. Past-tense framing for the deceased.
Alex Van Halen
aka Alexander Arthur Van Halen
Alex Van Halen co-founded Van Halen with his brother Eddie in 1972 and anchored the band across their entire studio catalog (1978-2012). Ludwig + DW Drums + custom Van Halen kits, Paiste cymbals. The hard-rock drumming canon's defining brother-band pocket.
At a glance
Role
Active
Based
Affiliations
- Warner Bros. Records (1978-2004); Interscope Records (A Different Kind of Truth, 2012)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted 2007 (Performer category, inducted by Velvet Revolver)
- 56 million albums sold in the US per RIAA (20th best-selling artist in the US as of March 2019), more than 80 million worldwide
- 13 number-one hits on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, the most of any act for two decades (1998-2018) until Three Days Grace broke the record
Notable credits
- Van Halen (1978, Diamond-certified, 10 million US copies by 1996)
- 1984 (1984, 10 million US copies by 1999, featuring "Jump")
- 5150 (1986, the band's first number-one Billboard 200 album)
- For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991, Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal)
- A Different Kind of Truth (2012, final studio album)
The band, decoded
Van Halen is the Pasadena, California band that rewired what rock guitar could sound like, then spent the next four decades cycling through singers while Eddie Van Halen's playing and Alex Van Halen's drumming stayed constant. Formed in 1972 by the two brothers, the band added David Lee Roth on vocals around 1973 and Michael Anthony on bass in 1974. That four-piece recorded the 1978 self-titled debut, an album that introduced two-handed tapping to a mainstream rock audience on "Eruption" and reset the bar for what a rock guitarist was expected to do.
Six albums with Roth, four number-one records with replacement singer Sammy Hagar, one commercially rocky album with Extreme's Gary Cherone, and a final reunion album with Roth and Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass: the roster changed constantly, but the band sold more than 80 million records worldwide and became one of the defining acts of arena rock. Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020, and the band ended with him.
This page is the band-level reference: formation, the catalog, the lineup eras, and the specific gear each member played, cross-linked to full member profiles where CYS has them.
From Mammoth to the 1978 debut
The Van Halen brothers, both born in Amsterdam and raised in Pasadena from 1962, started playing music together as kids and formed their first band, the Broken Combs, in 1964. By 1972 the group had cycled through the names Trojan Rubber Co. and Genesis before settling on Mammoth, with Eddie on guitar and vocals, Alex on drums, and friend Mark Stone on bass. They hired local singer David Lee Roth for his PA system at $10 a night, then invited him to join as frontman, partly to save money on rentals. In 1973 the band renamed itself Van Halen, Roth's idea, and by 1974 Stone had been replaced by Pasadena City College classmate Michael Anthony Sobolewski.
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons produced an early demo tape and tried to get the band signed, without success. Warner Bros. producer Ted Templeman and executive Mo Ostin saw the band perform at Hollywood's Starwood club in February 1977, after a tip from another local musician, and signed them within weeks. Van Halen recorded its debut album in about three weeks at Sunset Sound, deliberately keeping the performances raw. Released in February 1978, Van Halen reached No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and would eventually be certified Diamond, 10 million US copies sold, by 1996.
The catalog, album by album
Van Halen (1978) through A Different Kind of Truth (2012)
- Van Halen (February 1978, Warner Bros.)
- The debut. No. 19 on the Billboard 200, later Diamond-certified (10 million US copies by 1996). Introduced "Eruption" and the two-handed tapping technique to a mass rock audience.
- Van Halen II through Diver Down (1979-1982)
- Four albums in four years, all eventually multi-platinum: Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), and Diver Down (1982). By the early 1980s Van Halen was among the most commercially successful rock acts touring.
- 1984 (January 1984, Warner Bros.)
- 10 million US copies by 1999. Lead single "Jump" became the band's only number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Roth left after the supporting tour to pursue a solo career.
- 5150 (1986, Warner Bros.)
- The first album with Sammy Hagar replacing Roth, and the band's first number-one album on the Billboard 200. Singles "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Dreams" kept the keyboard-driven sound Eddie had introduced on 1984.
- OU812 through Balance (1988-1995)
- Three more number-one Billboard 200 albums with Hagar: OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991, Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal), and Balance (1995). Hagar left in June 1996 amid escalating tension with the Van Halen brothers.
- Van Halen III (1998, Warner Bros.)
- The only album with Extreme's Gary Cherone on vocals. Reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 but sold far below the band's standard, only Gold-certified. Cherone left in 1999 after a difficult supporting tour.
- A Different Kind of Truth (February 2012, Interscope)
- The band's final studio album and first with Roth in 28 years, built partly from reworked demos going back to 2000. The only Van Halen record to feature Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass.
Eddie Van Halen's guitar rig
Strings, later career
EVH Premium Electric Guitar Strings (.009-.042)
Eddie's own signature set under Fender Musical Instruments, designed to approximate the Fender 150XL gauges (.009 to .040) he ran from the 1970s onward. Hex core, nickel windings.
Source: Van Halen Store (official).
Guitars, three eras
Frankenstrat, then Peavey Wolfgang, then EVH Wolfgang
The hand-assembled Frankenstrat carried the band from 1977 to 1983. The Wolfgang signature line followed, built with Peavey from 1996 to 2004, then under Eddie's own EVH brand from 2007 onward.
Source: Wikipedia (Frankenstrat); full gear history on Eddie Van Halen's gear profile.
EVH Premium Electric Guitar Strings (.009–.042)
Why this one: Eddie's own signature set, documented since the EVH brand launched under Fender in 2007. The .009 to .042 gauge sits at comfortable bend tension in the Eb standard tuning most of the Van Halen catalog uses.
Alex Van Halen's drum kit
- Drum kits
- Ludwig through the band's commercial peak with Roth; custom Van Halen-branded kits and DW Drums in later touring years.
- Cymbals
- Paiste, documented as an artist relationship since March 1983 on Paiste's own site. Paiste's Sound Development team co-designed a signature ride with him from Paiste's 2002 alloy series, the Big Ride "Reverend Al's" (24 inches), introduced at 2010 Winter NAMM.
- Sticks
- Regal Tip Performer Series signature stick (SKU 228R-AVH), 17.75 inches, .570 inch diameter, oval wood tip, sold through the official Van Halen Store.
Alex's playing anchored every era of the band: linear tom-and-snare fills across a famously oversized touring kit (the "Hot for Teacher" intro is the canonical example), a hard-hitting backbeat that matched Eddie's stadium-volume guitar, and occasional open-handed technique well ahead of most of his hard-rock peers.
Michael Anthony and Wolfgang Van Halen's bass rigs
Two different bassists, two different documented setups, separated by the 2006 lineup change.
Bassist, 1974-2006
Michael Anthony: Yamaha BB3000MA + Rotosound
Anthony's signature bass with Yamaha, the BB3000MA, is confirmed on the company's own artist page. Rotosound's own advertising archive documents him as a bass-string endorser starting in the late 1980s. He's also known for a novelty bass built in the shape of a Jack Daniel's bottle, which debuted in the "Panama" music video.
Source: Yamaha Artists.
Bassist, 2006-2020
Wolfgang Van Halen: D'Addario strings
Eddie's son took over on bass in 2006 after only a few months playing the instrument, and recorded A Different Kind of Truth (2012), the band's final album, on custom one-off basses built by EVH master builder Chip Ellis. D'Addario's own artist roster confirms him as a current D'Addario player; CYS hasn't confirmed his exact bass string gauge from this era, though his current documented guitar gauge with Mammoth is tracked on his full profile.
Source: D'Addario Artists.
Wolfgang Van Halen full gear profile →
Swing Bass 66 (.045–.105)
Why this one: Rotosound's own archive documents Michael Anthony as a bass-string endorser in 1987 print advertising. Swing Bass 66 is the brand's flagship stainless-steel roundwound set from that era, a bright, aggressive tone that cuts through a loud two-guitar-and-drums mix.
The Roth, Hagar, and Cherone eras
- David Lee Roth (1974-1985, 1996 briefly, 2006-2020)
- The original frontman and the voice on six studio albums, from Van Halen (1978) through Diver Down (1982) and 1984. Left after the 1984 Tour to go solo; returned in 2006 for the Wolfgang-on-bass era through the band's 2020 end.
- Sammy Hagar (1985-1996, 2003-2005)
- Replaced Roth and fronted four number-one, multi-platinum albums: 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance. Left in 1996 amid tension with the Van Halen brothers; returned in 2003 for a 2004 reunion tour and compilation, then left again after that tour.
- Gary Cherone (1996-1999)
- Former Extreme frontman, recorded the sole Cherone-era album Van Halen III (1998). Commercially the band's weakest release, Gold-certified against the rest of the catalog's platinum and multi-platinum run. Left in 1999 after a disappointing tour.
Roth's showmanship and Hagar's arena-rock polish produced very different eras of the same band; Cherone's brief run is generally treated by fans as a footnote rather than a third era proper. All three singers fronted a band built around the same Eddie-and-Alex rhythm-and-lead foundation.
Eddie Van Halen's death and the end of the band
Eddie Van Halen was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and died on October 6, 2020, after a long battle with the disease, at age 65. A month later, Wolfgang Van Halen publicly confirmed that Van Halen had disbanded; there has been no reunion, tribute lineup, or continuation under the band's name since. Alex Van Halen has remained largely out of public performance. Wolfgang has continued as a working musician through his own project, Mammoth WVH, releasing albums independently: the band's self-titled 2021 debut, on which Wolfgang played his father's original Frankenstrat on the "Mammoth" and "Feel" solos, and the 2023 follow-up, Mammoth II.
Where to start listening
- If you're new to Van Halen
- Van Halen (1978). The debut that introduced the two-handed tapping technique and the band's signature sound in one 35-minute record.
- If you want the commercial peak
- 1984. The best-selling entry point, ten million US copies, and the only Van Halen single, "Jump," to reach number one on the Hot 100.
- If you want the Hagar era
- 5150 (1986). The strongest of the four Hagar-era number-one albums and the clearest example of how the band's sound shifted toward keyboard-driven arena rock.
- If you want the final chapter
- A Different Kind of Truth (2012). Roth's return after 28 years, and the only album with Wolfgang Van Halen on bass.